#FPL OCD – Gameweek 3: The Tide is Turning…no wait I just got SOAKED!

There are times when you wonder why you play FPL. After 2 awful weeks, I was hoping desperately for a 50+ week. On Saturday, I was joyous, my patience with the wildcard was paying dividends in a style that I could never have imagined. Callum Wilson, ditched by many over the first 2 weeks, was nestled in my front 3 as he ran riot against a dire West Ham. His teammate Simon Francis also popped up to net me an assist, and my Sterling and Rooney to Mahrez and Aguero (-4) was already paying off, with Rooney blanking again and Mahrez’s form continuing with 10 points. From 4 players (Ruddy, Francis, Mahrez and Wilson), I had already gained 35 points, with all of my big hitters to come. In the Sunday lunchtime game, Azpilicueta grabbed an unexpected goal, leaving me on 42 with 6, including my captain, still to play.

If you’d offered me 57 points prior to the weekend I would have been pleased, but now it feels disappointing. Aguero (C), Sanchez, Ozil, Mertesacker, Benteke and Mane – it just screamed points. A couple of goals surely imminent, maybe even a clean sheet, I thought I was looking at 35-40 points to give me an 80-85 point gameweek. It did not transpire, with blanks all round and Huth’s 2 points coming in for the absent Mertesacker. After 4 players I had a GW rank of 93k, but ended up at 440k. Respectable, but it could have been so much more.

As so often happens in the game, a decent week leaves us ruing our failures and ignoring the successes. A Callum Wilson hat trick? I would never have dreamt it possible. An Azpilicueta goal? Rarer than Tim Howard attacking points. If all of my big hitters had blanked on Saturday, then Callum Wilson had netted 17 points on Monday night, I would probably be delighted, an unlikely hero dragging my team from the mire. Yet here we are, in this all too familiar position. A poor week, and we are disappointed. A good week, and…disappointment still prevails all too often. We focus on the negatives, lamenting the player we benched who grabbed an assist, or the highly owned player that ran riot *cough* Kolarov *cough*. I have had 80-90+ gameweeks when I have been dissatisfied because I captained the wrong player, or didn’t take a hit that would have gained me 4 points. We strive for perfection, and it is out of our control. We are reliant on real world football, and that is never predictable; if it was, no one would be watching. I try to find the positives, to not feel disappointment, to not take any of my team’s failures to heart. Remembering that “this is only a game” is a constant struggle for the FPL addict.

It is still early days, and I must look at the positives. It was a good gameweek, my team looks fairly well set, and I have cracked the top million (in these tough times, that must be seen as an achievement). Two green arrows have taken me from 1.4m to 868,707, and no matter how small, it is a platform from which to build. With many playing their chips early, the rankings will be slightly skewed, and I have 3 chips and my wildcard in hand. This early on, I cannot rule out my top 5k aim.

The immediate future? Well, this week I am, despite being fairly happy with my team, looking to stick to my pre-GW plan. Last week, I said that I was looking at two 4 point hits over a fortnight. My plan this time was for Azpilicueta and Ozil to Kolarov and Silva, and despite Azpilicueta’s goal, I saw nothing to deter me from those moves. Then, I will have a team that I will be almost 100% happy with. No doubt, by next week, I will have spotted more issues, but we FPL addicts are very guilty of displaying far too much pessimism. All together now: “always look on the bright side of life…”

BLOODY KOLAROV – SMUG GIT! 😉

John went to University, finished his degree, and got a good job in the City of London. He is now in the process of throwing it all away in favour of FPL, a game with no notable rewards for success. He firmly believes this to be the correct decision.